Snoop Dogg once picked his 3 favourite rappers of all time
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Snoop Dogg once picked his 3 favourite rappers of all time

When the Mount Rushmore of hip hop is finally carved into the Rocky Mountains, there is a good chance that the face of Snoop Dogg will be one of the first to be chiselled into the sandy rock. While there are certainly better rhymers out there, artists with more vision and rappers with a more potent viewpoint, nobody flows quite like Snoop and, for that reason alone, his place is confirmed.

Laidback to the point of being horizontal, Snoop has never been one to get caught up in his own hype, beyond his ability to bring the party. Instead, the Californian rapper is the type of spitter to arrive at the studio, lay down his bars in a first take flurry and leave in a puff of smoke. It’s a style that has seen him reach the pinnacle of hip hop. But, who would join him on the aforementioned heritage site? Snoop has his own picks.

Speaking with Jimmy Kimmel a few years ago, the always smiling Snoop had answer for the inevitable “who is your favourite rapper?” question and delivered a supremely confident response. The late-night host fires off a round of questions, including talking about Snoop’s first song, before hitting him with: “I don’t mean to put you on the spot, but who are your top three favourite rappers of all time?”

Any hip hop head worth their salt would snort with the same hefty derision that Snoop delivers to the face of Kimmel. Trying to pick a top ten is usually difficult for most people so to limit this to just three is almost unfathomable. But, cool as ever, Snoop replied effectively: “Slick Rick, Ice Cube…” as the tension built waiting his third choice, the rapper smirked and confirmed “Snoop Dogg.”

The crowd naturally rally around the rapper’s choice with a life-affirming “woo” but, in truth, Snoop has often shared his love for plenty of other hip hop stars. Labelling icons like LL Cool J, KRS One, Big Daddy Kane and Ice T among his favourite spitters ever.

Famously, he left out Eminem. Snoop shared his top ten list following a controversial appearance on The Breakfast Club, where he tore into Eminem on the beloved radio show. “Eminem, the great White hope,” he said. “White rappers had zero respect in rap. Let’s keep that one thou-wow. None. [Dr. Dre] has probably put Eminem in the position to where he could be one of the top 10 rappers ever.

“I don’t think so, but The Game feels like he’s top 10 lyricists and all that that comes with it. But, that’s just because he’s with Dr. Dre and Dr. Dre helped him find the best Eminem that he could find,” Snoop added.

Eminem then famously retaliated to Snoop’s taunt on his track, ‘Zeus’, when he rapped: “As far as squashing beef I’m used to people knocking me, But just not in my camp / And diplomatic as I’m tryin’ to be / Last thing I need is Snoop doggin’ me / Man, Dogg, you was like a damn god to me / Meh, not really (haha) / I had dog backwards.”

Watch Snoop Dogg pick out his three favourite rappers of all time on the Jimmy Kimmel show below:

Snoop Dogg’s favourite rappers of all time:

  • Slick Rick
  • Ice Cube
  • Snoop Dogg